I ended up at The One Restaurant as I was looking for a late night snack after I had arrived into town late on a Wednesday evening. I didn’t have a lot of options as many eateries close by 10 pm, especially on a weeknight. Originally, some local Chowhounds had recommended a few places in Richmond but the friend who was picking me up from the airport needed to run some errands and we ended up on the Vancouver side. She suggested that we try The One as she enjoyed a few of the dishes there previously.

The One Restaurant is a Taiwanese cafe with the same owners as Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodle House. The menu at The One is pretty diverse and contains items typical of most Taiwanese cafes and bubble tea joints, such as snacks, noodles, dumplings, fried rice, and of course, bubble tea.

We got an order of A30. Salty Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets ($5.75). I really wanted to try these as I had read that the version at The One was pretty tasty. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the flavour of the chicken nuggets. These deep-fried chicken nuggets were done in the typical Taiwanese style. I liked that the chicken meat was flavourful, juicy, and tender. The outer coating was well-seasoned and crispy. The deep-fried basil was a nice, flavourful garnish. The chicken nuggets were freshly deep-fried and still very hot when the dish arrived at our table. This was certainly one of the better versions of Taiwanese salty, peppery fried chicken nuggets that I’ve tasted so far. And I thought the portion was quite generous considering the price.

My friend suggested that we share an order of F6. Taiwanese Sausage Fried Rice ($8.50) as this was her favourite dish on her last visit to The One. I thought this fried rice was really tasty. I liked the thin slices of gai lan (Chinese broccoli) stalk which added a nice crunchy texture to the fried rice. The diced bits of the slightly sweet Taiwanese Sausage were tender and really complemented the fried rice well. To my surprise, I really enjoyed the flavours and textures in this dish and I’m looking forward to going back to The One to have it again.

I’ll be first to admit that I’m usually not a huge fan of bubble tea or milk tea in general. My friend suggested that I try a fresh taro drink at The One as she had heard from a friend that it was really good. We were not sure which version to order as there was a fresh taro milk tea as well as a fresh taro slush. Since it was well past midnight on a chilly night we decided that it was too cold for a slush and opted for the milk tea instead. We ordered the large M17. Fresh Taro Milk Tea ($4.50 for small; $5.50 for large) with no pearls as I’m not a fan of them. To me, this drink was a bit of a miss. I thought the taro flavour was a bit weak as I could barely taste the taro and the milk tea was a bit bland. To make matters worse, the taro was ground up (not in chunks) but it wasn’t totally smooth and did not really blend in with the milk tea. So with each sip, we sucked in grainy bits of taro along with the milk tea. This certainly wasn’t my idea of a tasty drink so I was pretty sure we had ordered the wrong version.

As luck would have it, I ended up at The One again a couple of days later. My friend and I had finished working out at her gym nearby and she wanted to grab a quick snack before dinner.

This time I wanted to try the Q27. Fresh Taro Slush ($5.00) since we were thirsty from our workouts. I was shocked at how large the slush was. It was practically leaping out of the glass! The Fresh Taro Slush turned out to be really creamy and tasty. I could really taste the flavour of the taro this time in the slush as compared to the Fresh Taro Milk Tea I had a couple of days earlier. If you enjoy taro, this would be the drink to order. Even though I’m normally not a fan of bubble teas, milk teas, or slushes, I really enjoyed this Fresh Taro Slush and would definitely order it again on my next visit to The One. Now I’m curious how this slush stacks up compared to other bubble tea cafes that offer fresh taro slushes.

As a snack, my friend wanted to try the A47. The One Sliced Beef in Pancake ($5.75). As it turns out, this dish consisted of thinly sliced braised beef with hoisin sauce and rolled up in a green onion pancake. To me, this dish really reminded me of the famous beef roll from Peaceful Restaurant. I thought this version from The One was just ok. There was a little too much hoisin sauce in each piece for my liking. I thought the pancake was a bit on the doughy side compared to Peaceful. I was expecting the pancake to be more flaky and light.

Overall, I thought The One was decent as far as late night eats are concerned. I’ve certainly had much worse as the selection of places can be limited. It seems like one’s experience can be hit or miss depending on what is ordered. Personally, my favourites were the Salty Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets, the Taiwanese Sausage Fried Rice, and the Fresh Taro Slush. I’m not sure I would go out of my way and drive across town to go to The One but if I happen to be in the neighbourhood, I would stop in and order my favourite dishes.